Category Archives: Self Care

Do you ever wake up in the morning feeling worse than when you went to bed? Maybe you feel stiff first thing in the morning, but as you start moving through your day, the stiffness dissipates. Maybe you notice that it takes less stress to make you crabby, which then gives you a headache. Or […]

Everyone’s full of great self-care advice, aren’t they? “Make sure you drink at least 2 liters of water a day” “Avoid all processed foods. Only eat organic, non-GMO food” “Never use a microwave, the radiation will harm your food and you” “Make sure to get a minimum of 8 hours of sleep a night” “Exercise […]

Are You Ready for Gardening Season? Now that 4th winter seems to finally be over, maybe we’ll all be able to venture out into our yards and gardens and get them into some sort of shape during the approximately 2 weeks of spring we’re set to have this year. Whether you managed to get out […]

When is Low Back Pain Not Just Low Back Pain? Did you know that roughly 65% of women and 45% of men who have chronic low back pain also have some sort of dysfunction in their pelvic floor muscles? I didn’t until I went to the San Diego Pain Summit last year. One of the […]

Have you ever been told that you’ll be less stressed if you just “go with the flow”? It’s actually true, but not in the zen, surfer dude, nothing-riles-me-up way you might think. The Myth of Going With the Flow Most people think of going with the flow as something akin to a nice, gentle, lazy day […]

New clients often ask if I have any idea how long it will take to fix their problem and/or relieve their pain. I’m afraid my answer disappoints many of them, at least at first. I tell them, “It depends.” The Answer to Every Question When I was in massage school, one of my instructors was […]

It seems like everyone has advice on the self-care you should be doing. I guess I’m no different. But hopefully I’ll have a different take on it than you’re used to… at least this time. If You Can Dream It Today I want to talk about your dreams and what you’re going to need to […]

Let me tell you about a rather fun, and oddly surprising, way to build healthy habits, get rid of bad habits, and be more productive. It’s called Habitica. I wish I could take credit for finding this gem all on my own, but like many of the best things in life, it took a team effort. […]

This might shock you, but it shouldn’t… I’m not a big mantra or affirmation person, at least the way they’re normally used. I do, however, find they can come in handy as reminders when I’m struggling with something. They can also be a great tool to keep me on track with a goal or to […]

A lot of stress comes from our long to do lists. The longer the list, the more stress you feel. Crossing things off the list not only makes you more productive, it frees up energy that you’d otherwise be using to dread doing all the things on your list. I’m sure you’ve experienced this. You […]

This is the 6th and last installment of the Priorities series. To catch up on any installment(s) that you missed scroll to the bottom and click the appropriate link(s) at the bottom of this article. Now that you’ve been at it for a while, you may have noticed that certain things trip you up as […]

I know I tend toward the lighter side of topics, even when I’m being totally serious, but there is no light side to sexual assault. The term sexual assault is a broad term used to encompass both completed and attempted rape as well as groping, fondling, or any other form of unwanted sexual contact. It’s a weighty, highly […]

In parts 1-3 of the priorities series you determined your priorities, made a list of the costs vs benefits of your current life choices, and prioritized your priorities based on the analysis of those costs and benefits. Now it’s time to find your strengths and weaknesses, also known as your resources and limitations, that will either help […]

It’s not enough to know what’s stressing you out; you also have to know what needs to change in regards to those stressors. For instance, would it be enough to change departments or shifts at work or do you need to work for a totally different company? Here’s where the work of the last 2 Priorities […]

It’s been several weeks since I asked you to determine your priorities. It’s time to pull them out of the drawer you stuffed them in or pull them up on your phone. I’ll wait… Now that you have them in front of you, give them a quick review. Imagine how good it would feel if each […]